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Updated: Jan 22, 2026
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Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
Published on: August 18, 2023
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Conserved Interhemispheric Morphogenesis in Amniotes Preceded the Evolution of the Corpus Callosum
Ryota Noji1, Mari Kaneko2, Takaya Abe2
1Cell Biology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, INAMORI Memorial Building, Kyoto, Japan.
Development, Growth & Differentiation
|January 20, 2026
Summary
The corpus callosum
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Evolutionary Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- The corpus callosum (CC) connects mammalian brain hemispheres but its evolutionary origins are unclear.
- Comparable structures are absent in nonmammalian amniotes, hindering evolutionary studies.
- Understanding CC evolution requires investigating its developmental precursors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary origins of the corpus callosum.
- To identify conserved developmental mechanisms underlying interhemispheric connections in amniotes.
- To explore the role of Satb2 in midline remodeling across different amniote groups.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of interhemispheric remodeling in reptiles and birds.
- Utilizing CRISPR-mediated gene targeting in mice and geckos.
- Examining the spatio-temporal dynamics of commissural formations.
Main Results:
- Interhemispheric remodeling is conserved in nonmammalian amniotes (reptiles, birds).
- Similarities observed between mammalian CC and reptilian rostral pallial commissure (RPC).
- Satb2 is crucial for CC and RPC formation in mice and geckos, respectively.
Conclusions:
- Developmental mechanisms for midline remodeling existed in the common ancestor of amniotes.
- These mechanisms contributed to the evolution of the eutherian-specific corpus callosum.
- Comparative studies reveal conserved pathways in brain evolution.
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